Set List: (both solo acoustic) I Am A Patriot by Steven Van Zandt,
The Times They Are A-Changin' by Bob Dylan

Friday the 13th, nothing can be luckier than that! Ralph Nader and his loyal team of supporters and voters gathered in the amazing and spectacular Madison Square Garden for a rally to "Let Ralph Debate" as its main driving force. The first time since 1971 that Nader had been able to speak in MSG, and that time was to end the building of more nuclear power plants.

I went to this rally as a first-time voter concerned with the issues and I am glad that many of them were finally being talked about where I could hear and see them. Since the Nader campaign has been lacking any mainstream press, it is very hard to get firsthand information anywhere other than Nader’s website, www.votenader.org. Phil Donahue opened up the night and got the crowd going. Shortly after his opening speech, local Green Party candidates and supporters briefly took the stage. The filmmaker Michael Moore discussed issues such as campaign funding, corporate welfare and the lack of a difference between Gore and Bush. Susan Sarandon spoke and focused on voting your conscience. Bill Murray, dressed in orange army fatigue pants, gray sweater, and taupe sport jacket talked about the importance of everyone getting out to vote and representing your vote. Tim Robbins came out as "Bob Roberts" and sang two songs pretending to be a Bush supporter. Ben Harper was amazing as usual and performed two songs, including Sexual Healing. Ani DiFranco was her usual scatting voice and beautiful. Patti Smith performed three songs and was amazing! I am extremely glad I was able to hear her sing, especially for her first time performing at MSG.

Eddie Vedder was the last "celebrity" to take the stage. He came out with his notebook and his acoustic to a roaring applause and screams by the entire audience. Ed introduced himself a little and spoke very briefly to the audience before performing "I Am A Patriot." He says, "I am no longer a Democrat, sure as fuck ain’t no Republican either." Then he talked about not having enough time to write a song for this, and someone screamed "You can do it!" and Ed started laughing. He said that if there was a day or two more he could have done it maybe, but since today was the registration deadline in New York, he did not have enough time. So he is using this next song with permission of the author and it is more fitting now than maybe it has ever been. So he performs "The Times Are A Changing." After the first few notes, the Garden goes mad! Truly spoke the feeling of the arena at that point.

To my surprise, for every person that performed or spoke, the Garden was silent. Everyone respected the artists and wanted to hear what they had to say. That alone was one of the most inspiring moments in my life. Close to 16,000 people, a sold-out crowd, silent when someone had the mic. AMAZING!

After Ed’s short solo acoustic set, it was time for the "host" of this amazing party to take center stage. The crowd chants "Let’s Go Nader" and it was as loud as the chants the Rangers get during the playoffs! (For anyone who knows anything about MSG, the Rangers play there and their chant "Let’s Go Rangers" has been their chant for 75 years now.) Then Michael Moore comes out and introduces Ralph Nader. He is swarmed with applause and confetti dropped from the ceiling. He is on the stage almost five minutes before he can even get a word in. Very moving display by the audience.

Nader talked about almost every issue he supports and highlighted his platform for running for president. Almost everything he thought was discussed. Some of the issues were: organic farming, small business, the "Republicrat" party, the lack of the debate for the debates, putting the debates back in the hands of the people, major health care reform, free tuition for college students at public universities, cutbacks in government spending especially in defense spending, providing a stable economy for everyone to make a decent income, raising the real dollars earned, ending the WTO, and having this moment as the starting point for a change in the way things are done in this country. Nader spoke about each of these issues as a well-informed person and spoke in a language we can understand. He did not use loaded words, he did not try and impress anyone, he just spoke to the people, as a representative of the people.

After Nader’s speech, all the performers and speakers took the stage for a final performance. Patti Smith led the song "The Time For Change Is Now" and it turned into a 10 minute jam with Patti Smith’s guitarist, Ben Harper, and Eddie Vedder all on guitar backing Patti Smith. Eddie added some backing vocals as well as Susan Sarandon. Susan Sarandon was standing next to Eddie and was "Doing the Evolution" dance that Ed has made famous now while he was jamming out on his guitar. "Let Ralph Debate" became the ending chorus for the song, and truly the words that this rally should be all about.

A very inspiring night for a positive change to happen in the future. It reminded me of all the gatherings I have seen about the movements in the 60s that made a change. This event has that caliber to make a change happen in this country. We just have to let our voice be heard! I believe it was Bill Murray that said all of the presidents at Mount Rushmore are third party candidates or not affiliated with a party at all. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln all made a positive change in this country and got us moving in the right direction. Ralph Nader is the next to be added to the Mount Rushmore listing of third party candidates that make a positive change happen.